Job Openings On The Rise

Increases for job openings, like stable readings for unemployment claims, continue to offer strong signals of strength for the nation's labor market. Job openings totaled 5.871 million in July from an already solid and upwardly revised 5.643 million in June with the job openings rate up 1 tenth to 3.9 percent. But employers are still struggling to fill the jobs as the hiring rate is unchanged at 3.6 percent. And in a sign that workers are still reluctant to shift jobs, the quits rate is unchanged at 2.1 percent. Both the separations rate and the layoffs rate are unchanged, at 3.4 and 1.1 percent respectively. Today's report does offer the hawks some debate points for a rate hike at this month's FOMC.